In recent years, Germany has seen major financial scandals causing political and legal turmoil. The two most prominent scandals are the so called “cum/ex” tax scandal and the “Wirecard” financial fraud scandal. For many people, these names are associated with money lost. Litigators associate “cum/ex”, “Wirecard” and further scandals with proceedings against auditors and tax advisors; a hot topic for litigation in Germany. Disputes are centered around the liability of auditors and tax advisors: Former…

Introduction A lot has been said and written about the Wirecard scandal in Germany. Books and scholarly articles have been published, movies about the case are blockbusters in theatres. Therefore, just briefly here: Wirecard was the poster child start-up company in Germany, active as an (online) payment service provider. The German federal government lobbied for Wirecard with its international counterparts. In summer 2019, Wirecard publically announced that an amount of approx. EUR 2 billion on its…

In October 2020, the German Government announced an action plan to improve the work of auditors in Germany (see https://globallitigationnews.bakermckenzie.com/2020/10/21/unlimited-liability-for-auditors-in-germany/). This action plan resulted from the Wirecard scandal, one of the biggest financial scandals Germany has ever seen. Among others, the auditors of Wirecard had failed to uncover the massive financial fraud scheme that the top managers of Wirecard had created. An investigation committee of the German Parliament is still trying to get to the…

In June 2020, the Wirecard-scandal hit the financial markets. The German financial service provider Wirecard AG (“Wirecard”), a DAX 30 company, filed for insolvency after revelations that an amount of EUR 1.9 billion was missing from its books and the auditors had refused to certify Wirecard’s balance sheet. The company’s stock fell more than 70 % in only two days. In the future, books and movies will certainly exploit this scandal: a crime thriller including fake banks on…